With You By My Side

speaking out

2008-10-09T23:45:00.003+08:00

have you ever been in a situation

where your identity was challenged

you did what you felt you had to do

you thought you were protecting yourself

but in the end you caused hurt

you thought you were justified

but in the end it seems all blame rests on you

and you want to believe all blame rests on you

so that the treatment showered upon you is deserved

have you ever been in a situation

when your world became a desert

you did what you felt you could do

you selfishly took the lesser path to protect yourself

but in the end you still caused hurt

you thought others wouldn't bother to know

but in the end it seems all eyes rest upon you

and you know now all eyes rest upon you

so that their new perception of the terrible you is deserved

have you ever been in a situation

when the person you thought the world of has made a choice

and finally your sacrifices, efforts, prayers and endurance have come full circle, to the zero that you deserve

...

i have.

Keith and Hui sing Feng Zheng!

2008-01-22T13:57:00.000+08:00

This song is dedicated to all of you pals, great friends and sporting singers who really made 18 Jan 2008, Friday night a memorably hilarious, heartwarming, relaxing and carefree night to remember....

Keith
Yik Hui
Toon
Daphne
Xiaohan
Shaun
Joe

We should do this more often!

Sorry for the poor quality of my phone's camera! =)
Consider these pics as abstract works then heh.

Raffles Junior College - A tennis legacy

2007-08-04T01:29:00.000+08:00

Raffles Junior College
A Tennis Legacy

On a Wednesday afternoon, after a day of boring lectures, canteen antics, a rushed lunch at Ghim Moh, we come together at these courts, ready to be whipped into shape; eager for the adrenaline rush to engulf us, propel us to hit harder, to think craftily through each point...

Before we enter the courts, this path greets us.
It sees "us" every year, different as individuals but yet the same in spirit and name.
It is our faithful audience at each training, watching from the sides; and supporting our tired feet at the end of the day.

We enter, we place our bags at the side.
We will come to cherish our corner - where we greet friends, partners, guests.
Our corner is where we sit down, relax, chat, take a drink; and are rejuvenated.

We can be all business on court; or we can let down our hair and just "be".
The moss and leaves join in the play too.

The final physical is always tiring, but the most rewarding.
In suffering together, we bond and strengthen our camaraderie.
The whistle blows are lost in the whistling of air past our ears.
The muscle fatigue is numbed, even reversed, as we watch our friends repeat our drills.

We know that when the chase is good and done, a place of rest is always nearby.

(Can't put a pic of the canteen here cuz the current canteen looks disgusting wiith the change of colour)

Imagine

2007-08-01T02:45:00.000+08:00

Rite of Election

2006-03-05T17:23:00.000+08:00

Khian Hao and Stella's Rite of Election

04 March 2006 St Joseph's Church 2pm

Khian Hao (soon to be Matthew) and Stella celebrated their rite of election, along with 50+ others from Christ the King parish. They were among the 450 elect from the North and West District churches.

The mass was celebrated by Archie, Fr Johnson and another priest unknown to me. There was a lot of anticipation and joy in the atmosphere; and the congregation was very responsive - notably when individual parishes were named and catechumens asked to stand - spontaneous applause and cheering filled the church like the well-timed ringing of the church bell. There was a great sense of pride, especially for those who had journeyed so long (St Anthony's RCIA journey is 24 months!). (Father) Valerian was there to present those from Holy Cross, and so was Father Chris (master of ceremony).
I was reminded again of the great enthusiasm and enterprise of converts to our faith, and reflected on how much we cradle cats take our faith for granted.

Earlier this year, Khian Hao surprised me by asking me to be his godfather for his baptism into the Catholic faith. We have known each other since Sec 1 - thats way back in 1992 (!). Sec 1D RI - and kept in contact through the years via mahjong games, hanging out at Mingling's ice cream parlour and other gatherings. Typically, most of our classmates would have taken the protestant christian route to conversion, especially during JC, Army and Uni days. So it came as a edifying sign from God when Khian Hao shared about his experience of Catholic mass in the States while he was studying in Stanford. It was in Stanford where he met Stella, and God worked through her to bring him to our faith. To top it off, we also have another classmate, Chai Nam, who has been attending mass at St Francis Xavier.

In the early morning light, through the quiet of the night
I will lift my voice and praise your name
O God of all

God's hand is moving in the world, everyday lives are being changed
New doors are opened
New opportunities to reach to the Divine appear
I just pray that I can recognise them when they come =)

2006-01-05T23:59:00.000+08:00

Leslie, YC, Mong (front)
Moi, Anand, Leech (back)
After a sumptuous buffet at Meritus Mandarin....

CG 9 girls

2005-12-30T14:22:00.000+08:00

A tribute to the girls of my clinical grp (hehe)

you need girls in your CG for many reasons....
1. they double up as chaperons
2. they bring all possible textbooks (except Hong'ai who IS the textbook)
3. they have that knack for persuading patients to let us clerk them again even if its the end of the day and they have been interviewed a billion times by pesky medical students
4. they bring that motherly or human touch to the whole experience with the patients
5. they are hilarious to work with
6. they are damn smart

Hanying was initially remembered for her irresistible urge to keep repeating the same question to the patients... or repeating the question posed to her by our tutors. Of course for the latter, with the skilled flutter of her eye lashes, a tutor's impatience is quickly changed to eager forgiveness. In recent times, she was single-handedly responsible for the discovery of the sasha breast reflex - whereby a bicep jerk can now be elicited (or attempted to be elicited) with the well timed stroke of the tendon tapper onto a woman's pendulous breast. the subject should be an elderly chinese lady who doesn't speak Hokkien and is pretty much contented with life. studies have shown that one has to tap at least 20 times on each side for the desired effect.

Irene, the one with the great voice and musical talent. The 9th tallest person in the group (with Youyi a close 8th) but the 3rd tallest girl in the group. Also the 6th tallest girl amongst the 2 sister CGs and the 17th tallest person among the 2 sister CGs. haha no lah, Irene's the organiser of events - birthday parties; and the buyer of presents (except her own birthday present).

Linxin - hails from a family of doctors. As such, her medical student white coat is not just any ordinary white coat. It can house, and I mean house, a portable x-ray machine, an ECG machine, Harrison's, and sometimes when she feels like it, an ultrasound scan machine. For a girl, her handwriting is atrocious... perhaps only understood by her and her fellow blue bloods. Really, it borders on Tamil or Arabic.

Post camp blog

2005-12-16T19:18:00.000+08:00

Return of the chucky

To all those who were part of such a memorable GII camp - I praise and thank God for the gift of your fellowship, your spirituality and your beautiful singing during mass. To Adrian, Andrea, Anthony, Brenda, Christopher, Clara, Daniel, Daphne, Darryl, Dione, Dominic, Duane, Edmond, Elden, Elizabeth, Ferdinand, Gerald, Gerard, Gregory, Jasmine, Jeremy Bek, Jeremy Chai, Joanna, Jonathan Chia, Jonathan Lim, John Kong, Jude, Kenneth, Marilyn, Marissa, Melvin, Monica, Nicole, Noel, Priscilla, Sandrine, Stacy, Zachary and Father Valerian!!! GII rocks big time with you guys in it. And special thanks to Sr Mary and the caretakers of FMM. Thanks also to the resident FMM chicken and scorpion, for adding that kampong flavour to the camp.

I would like to say more, but the gala premiere of the chronicles of Narnia beckons..... gotta change and go!

Genesis II: Generations

2005-10-11T17:20:00.000+08:00

Whenever people ask about the choir and how she is doing... our normal responses (esp during this time of year) would be:
"oh, as usual, we're ok; we're coming along fine - attendance/commitment is always a problem... the singing and the spirit behind it can be better... we're currently in a phase of transition (which we always are in anyway) - nurturing and preparing the next batch of leaders."
Sounds so politically correct and lukewarm ya?

Well, with regards to such responses, I think we should sock'em.

We are on the brink of a new dawn, a future filled with endless beautiful possibilities. Our time in the desert is over as God has bestowed upon us a fresh spring. It is with a lump in my throat; with soaring pride and humble thanksgiving, that I highlight some of God's good gifts (in no particular order):

Matthias Lim, 14 - lost his father to cancer this year at such a tender age, but blessed with amazing talent on the organ, and earnest zeal to play

Gerald Yeo, 16 - 100% attendance and commitment... not well understood by many but I believe he has taught us all the simplicity of just making time and being there, rain or shine. He has much more to teach us.

Gregory Yeo, 17 - the Holy Drummer, conductor of Alive! and musical extraordinaire.... with no prior lessons on the piano or organ, music just comes naturally for him - in expression, in connection, in harmony. Articulate and confident (in most matters except...), he is ahead of his peers in depth and thought.

Brenda Loh, 16 - TKGS "short-stop" and pianist/psalmist; juggles O levels and playing for mass... latest addition to our crop of psalmists.

Joanna Ortega, 18 - coming of age conductress and alto SL. With her, we are confident and we sing as one. Also the head honcho for our g2 camp.

Marcus Oh, 16 - fellow Rafflesian and God-son.... diligently playing for mass and beautifully composed his first psalm recently. Also, bible knowledge king-pin (among us at least) and leads our reflection and prayer before mass.

Jonathan Lim, 17 - TJC tenor (former GII bass), chao mugger and pianist. Latest addition to our new cantors this year.

Dione Tan, 17 - cantopop queen; new cantor and leadersheep... She's truly matured and grown into a leader in singing and in prayer.

Shannon Cheong, 14 - from "Tarzan" to die-hard soprano; recently transferred to Tenors with his breaking voice. We'll make a great tenor out of ya!

Jonathan Chia, 19 - speaking of great tenors... Jon here has a truly unique voice... and it shows esp when he cantors or leads the congregation. Also a composer of many a memorable and inspiring psalm.

Jasmine Koh, 19 - our beloved Soprano head. She has done an amazing job with so many sopranos and so many varied kinds of sopranos. Is organising recruitment and caroling this year with Jon.

Duane Ang, 19 - Anniversary head, conductor head, youth mass head, leadersheep, bass temp SL - Duane, Duane how do you handle all these hats? and find time for yourself and for school too?

Samantha Yang, 16; Stacy Tan, 16; Priscilla Chang, 17 - our new animators who have grown in confidence and disposition. Ready to do weddings?

Daniel John, 17 - Tenor; unassuming and an althogether nice guy...

Deborah Tan, 15 - up and coming pianist; and dancer too

Darryl Leong, 15 - mr perfect pitch and future of the bass section. You've come a long way, you know that? am proud of ya bro.

These are just the icing on the cake.... there are many more treasures to be found and hearts to be turned to God.... let's keep it going and make our future happen, with prayer and faith in God.

2005-09-24T19:17:00.000+08:00

Sep 23-24 4am after playing pictionary.... thanks for coming pple!

Pater Noster

2005-04-08T03:34:00.000+08:00

Pater noster ("Our Father" - the Lord's prayer)

Pater noster qui es coelis
Sanctificetur nomen tuum
Adveniat regnum tuum
Fiat voluntas tua
Sicut in coelo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostri
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem
Sed libera nos a malo

Pope John Paul II

2005-04-04T00:17:00.000+08:00

Pope John Paul II

It was secret dream of quite a few of us to sign up for and travel with the
Singapore contigent to World Youth Day in Germany July 2005, to meet Pope
JPII face to face. Well, that dream has been fulfilled in a different way
and much earlier than expected. I'm sure most of you have been flooded with
the deluge of sms alerts/prayers/notices and the continuous round the clock
reporting on CNN, CNA etc on the unfolding events in Rome, in Poland, in the
many Catholic countries of the world, and in countries where we form a very
small percentage.

There were tributes, short documentaries mapping his early life in Poland,
as a priest, as an archbishop; and other footages of him traveling the world
as Pope, preaching and celebrating with the multitudes. How the next pope
will be elected and who are the front running candidates, is probably common
knowledge among avid cable news viewers.

Cameras and reporters flocked to Singapore churches this Sunday morning(Holy
Spirit, Holy Cross) to interview our fellow Singapore Catholics and shoot
scenes from mass (with some parishioners in slippers and shorts!) - and I
discovered another choir uses the same gloria we sing for mass! hehe

Just as Islam was put under scrutiny after Sep 11; our Catholic, our
universal church is now under the examining lens. Pope JPII has always been
a youth at heart; and his deepest prayers were for us, the youth of the
church, the church of today. For those of you who do not know him or his
works, do find the time to learn about his teachings; his messages to us
youth. Did you know that he was an avid actor, skiier, hockey player and
soccer goalie? For some of the older GII peeps who actually went to World
Youth Day 1995 in Manila; and celebrated life with him and 4 million others
in a memorable finale mass, it was an experience like no other.

Now is the time for us to remember our great leader, our Pope; and now is
the time for us to deepen our faith, increase our visits to the sacraments,
to be able to share our faith with others, to love and to work for the poor
and oppressed in our families, schools, workplaces and society at large. He
has shown us the way.

There will be a new pope when World Youth Day comes this year; and that will
be another email sharing for another occasion.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! For His love has no end!
Grazie John Paul II! Grazie Karol Wojtyla!

God bless you all!
Darren

MBBS

2005-03-09T01:13:00.000+08:00

The final professionals are upon me.... yup and its also less than 2 months to Alive!, our easter celebration. The beauty of having the final MBBS this year lies in the fact that I will end on Holy Saturday (with my paediatrics short case exam), in time for Easter Vigil - how fitting - to mark the end of a part of my life with the greatest celebration of our faith.

Here's the schedule for the next 3 wks:
08 Mar - Medicine MCQs (160 - 3 hrs): these were a killer!
10 Mar - Medicine Essays (4 - 3 hrs)
11 Mar - Medicine Modified Essay Qtn
11 Mar - Easter combined choir: will not be going
12 Mar - time with g2 again! and Alive! practice
14 Mar - Medicine Practical
15 Mar - Surgery Essays (4 - 3 hrs)
16 Mar - Surgery Practical
17 Mar - Surgery MCQs (180 - 3 hrs): and you thought medicine was a killer...
19 Mar - Palm Sunday and time with g2 again!
21 Mar - Medicine Clinical Adult Long Case - TTSH
23 Mar - Surgery Clinical Long & Short Cases - AH
26 Mar - Medicine Clinical Paediatric Short Cases - KKWCH
26 Mar - Easter Vigil!!!!
27 Mar - Alive! rehearsal - back in the groove!

2005-02-09T01:36:00.000+08:00

Xiao ah

kind of a kingdom

2005-02-05T01:47:00.000+08:00

Kind of a Kingdom

He was a King but he lived as a servant, asking that we do the same.
He led the way to the kind of a kingdom where only the humble shall reign.

For love is the kind of a kingdom that changes the order of things.
The greatest of you shall be servants of all, and the lowest of you shall be kings.

He spoke in words of wonder and mystery, words that were hard to explain.
That finding your life is only to lose it, and losing your life is your gain.

2005-01-07T22:39:00.000+08:00

g2 rawks!

2005-01-07T22:25:00.000+08:00

GII Costume Party on New Year's Eve
- All Hail Ugly Princess Bek

2004-12-30T02:09:00.000+08:00

After a hard day's work of caroling, we revert to our normal selves

Christmas 2004

2004-12-26T01:45:00.000+08:00

Christmas 2004: Pageant & Midnight Mass at Holy Family

4 months of preparation and hard work culminated in a beautiful and wonderfully performed Christmas musical: The Encounter, at Holy Family on Christmas eve 24 Dec (Fri). As the cast and choral gathered in church at 1030pm, we felt an air of anticipation in the church hall. The church as fast filling (even at 1030pm, way before the pageant and mass! - but this is the holy fam norm anywayz) The choral, were also known as the Angels, and we took our places on the 2nd level, with a breathtaking full view of the church filling up.

There were a host of familiar faces all over... Marc E, Eulindra and the Es; Ada, Aaron, Allyson, the Dings, the Theseiras; Melina, Christina & Fab, and their parents; Melvin's parents - the old g2 guard; and the youth councillors were taking position in the centre mezzanine... Glenn, Shaun, Jazryl and the whole Sim clan; Jeremy & Jared and their parents, and J Oh's girlfren - they were on the same side as us - right mezzanine. downstairs, the combined choir was fast filling with the rest of g2 and St David's, Joy, Jane and the Lims were in the centre aisle right in front! And with the turn of the head, another smile, wave and familiar face appeared... seemingly showering us with endless support and encouragement.

By the time the pageant began at 1125pm, Holy Family was filled to seating capacity and there were already pple taking up balcony stands. When Anthony and Elizabeth began their 1st act of the 1st scene, an audience of 2400 sushed up and returned silence to the altar. The fighting scenes ended with June's heartfelt solo. And then it was the choral's turn... Here Am I went by so fast it was almost like a dream..... Elizabeth's earnest prayer and sharing prepared us for To the Poor a Lasting Treasure.... which was a songfest in itself =) The choral, situated just next to the holy fam's beautiful 16-panel stained glass, was in full view of virtually everyone.... and for this song especially since it was our turn to shine.... and shine we did (I hope!) - the girls sung perfectly in tone and in unity, the guys didnt break their voices heh! and we let technique and breathing take over where fatigue and sore throats waged war... we smiled, we enjoyed the song, we made it our own, and we kept them entranced LOL..... Dominic ended with his solo which must have melted many many hearts - The Encounter! .... but the highlight... the pinnacle of the musical must have been at the very end.... after all the singing, after all the acting... after all the 4 months.... "I want to go to mass with you".... father and mother hugging and giving the sound system major feedback.... well the congregation of 3000 gave a resounding positive feedback by laughing along and applauding spontaneously.... (haha... it was really one of those feel good family moments)

Ooops - who could forget The Saxophonist! Zachary!!!! Zach the Sax.... you're the man... the accompaniment was beautiful! and it certainly raised a few eyebrows (in a good way)

Well, yours truly had to rush down immediately as yours truly had to animate for Midnight mass... the snowball effect continued, bouyed by the impact the musical had made... I'm sure it must have been a grand experience for the younger ones.... being conducted by super energetic and psycho conductors.... the grand gathering hymn of O Come All Ye Faithful... Do you hear what I hear, the First Noel (Canon in D as always!), Joy to the World/Hallelujah!!!! Marissa, Andrew, Rosie and Daniel making magic with the the instruments

Being animator also brought a mixed experience for myself too heh.... more than 3000 pple depending on me for the correct hymn to sing LOL.... checking myself if I was sounding too boring/dry/disinterested...

Well, they say a picture paints a thousand words.... so we had to take a big GII pic in front of the altar... there must have been 10 over cameras... and each one was snapped at least twice!!! haha.. well we had a very efficient paparazzi circus taking photos for us.

(Click for larger pic!) - Courtesy of Sue Ann

GII: Post pageant and Midnight mass at Holy Family

2004-12-15T23:11:00.000+08:00

Christmas with the Leongs 2003

2004-12-15T22:35:00.000+08:00

GII Basses Rawk!

Camp Banyan

2004-12-15T21:12:00.000+08:00

Camp Banyan 2004: 30 Nov - 3 Dec
Holy Family youth become One Body!

I had the privilege, joy, honour, blessing and grace of God to be present at one of the best camps I've ever attended.... Maybe thats cuz I was one of the organisers haha... but really... it was the initial rough journey and culmination in camp that made this a truly amazing life event!

Ironically, for me and GII it began with no one coming forth to help plan the annual GII retreat (one which would always evoke beautiful memories and bond us closer) - and an invitation by Colin to do a combined camp (the last one was in '99 - NCS, YC, GII & friends)

With an initial small crew of different reps from the youth grps, our first few meetings in June were literally drawing board-anything-goes-brainstorming-conceptualising meetings... Dawn, Alex, Andrew (camp head!), Gordina, Michael, Andrea, Adrian, Grace and myself - I think it was one late night that we dreamt up the One Body Many Parts theme and the story of the Banyan Tree was first supplied by Dawn

We had meetings weekly (!!!) in church, in town (Centrepoint Macs!), at the camp site, at Hougang Mall (Macs!) - and our motely bunch grew and subcomms were formed, and these in turn recruited more willing hands.... as secretary my job was simple... take minutes, arrange meetings, call people... but even that proved difficult and i had the help of trusty Michael to cover for me... The different comms were led by amazing and competent individuals and we launched a massive campaign in september to increase awareness abt the camp and abt the youth scene...

Pamphlets
Brownie baking and selling
Photo-taking of hundreds of youth
Youth@HolyFamily Exhibition
2nd Brownie baking and selling (++ other stuff)
Registration weekends
Outdoor Dry Run
Day of Recollection for the 30 or so organisers (a great one day of recollection that brought us together to prepare for the camp)
Camp Briefing Day

Day 1 (Outdoor Race!) of camp finally arrive and we the Leongs arrived late!!! It was heartening to see so so many participants; and esp impressed with g2 peeps taking the role of grp leaders for 6 of the 10 groups. I stayed on at Church for awhile before heading down to AH for my Orthopaedics posting.... I rushed home at abt 3pm and brought my barang barang to the camp site at Lorong Lowkoon. The journey there was wrought with anticipation and some urgency too, cuz I was late for the cleaning crew's duty! - Exactly how many people? would they be responsive? would the g2 pple survive? hoped some of the older g2 could come down and visit... so many thoughts, worries, and hopes... would darryl be ok? would there be any medical emergencies?

to be continued....

Adrian Neo's Wedding

2004-11-20T20:18:00.000+08:00

Adrian Neo's Wedding 20 Nov (Sat) 12.30pm Risen Christ Church

Adrian Neo! Ah Neo! Ade Neo! The man is finally getting married! Yay! The anime fanatic, Jap pro and best male animator in GII ever!

Of course, the day actually began at 8am when I woke up to prepare, wash up, dress up, and have a good breakfast before making my way down to holy fam to meet the rest at 10am. As usual all the young ones were early, waiting diligently at Father's house. We made our way there in 4 taxis and my car. Thanks to Joy, Anthony, Noel and Andrea for being taxi ICs and getting to know the new ones during their journey down.

When we reached Risen Christ, we met the others and had warm-ups downstairs by the carpark as there was another wedding going on. And when we finally could go up to the choir loft, there was some confirmation rehearsal going on downstairs so we had to wait again to practice... that gave us some time to settle some minor hiccups with the keyboard and noel had more time to acquaint himself with the weird organ. I went down to the church hall to hear how they sounded (and also see how they looked haha all crammed up in the choir loft) - not bad lah, love the acoustics of the church!

These were the highlights of the beautiful wedding:
- Fr Simon Pereira concelebrating with an Indonesian priest
- Christine's relatives from Indonesia (abt 100-150 of them) filling up the church
- Adrian and Christine both dressed fully white!
- Derek as best man
- Marc's beautiful cantoring
- I Offer My Life for preparation of the gifts
- the 40 of us up in the choir loft continuing to sing the recessional song - Nothing's gonna stop us now
- the wonderful food at the reception
- being asked to shift as there was a funeral abt to begin! LOL

Best wedding of the year! Will put up photos soon!

Where have you been?

2004-11-17T17:50:00.000+08:00

Hello dear blog, I'm so sorry its been a month since I last blog.... (hmmm sounds like the start of Confession)... so let me tell you what I've done in the meanwhile...

27 Sep - Paeds posting day 1 - had a German student Nicolai (his weblog is under my links) joining us for the 3 wk posting.... he made the posting really interesting (not to mention having Prof Hugo as our tutor) and brought so much new insight to medicine, to life, for me. He's into rock climbing, photography, and is with the Rotary Club of Singapore.

04 Oct - We met Boon - another 5th yr exchange student from Oxford - a musician, dancer, rocker, and stellar med student all rolled into one.

09 Oct - Nicolai, Boon, Irene, HA, Leslie and I met up for supper at Geylang (bean curd!), afterwhich we went to watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow at PZ.

16 Oct - Noel Loh's birthday! Went clubbing at Zouk with Nicolai, Boon, Mark and Mark LOL.. $4 entry for me cuz it was some Cleo bash... but the music was pretty boring so we went to MS, and ended up eating some Bak Kut Teh at 2am by the roadside... also learned that Boon scored 15 A*s for his O Levels! (7 of them languages...) eat this s'pore scholars! haha... Mark the driver was driving as if he was on an F1 track.... and since it was Boon's last night in S'pore, we decided to give Zouk one last chance ...

18 Oct - Started Dermatology posting - acne, psoriasis, tinea, mycosis fungoides, solar lentigo - an eye opening experience.... sat in Colin Theng's clinic and talked a bit on tennis haha

23 Oct - A Day with GII - abt 10 confirmands came down, and we had icebreakers, a great mass and a great movie - Angels in the Outfield! - LeaderSheep rock!

31 Oct - Survivor Sunday - an exciting and hilarious day of fun, friendship.... too much food! spent some time explaining to Zach how to do a scientific report.

01 Nov - All Saints Day - Eye has not seen blooper!

05 Nov - GII's 21st birthday...

06 Nov - derm test in the morning was tough but shld pass... Anniversary Mass 2004!!!! Came early to help Ems with the song sheets, zapped another 250 more so 950 in total... we want the congregation to participate yeah! We sang everything in parts... Behold the Lamb was very very touching and inspiring.... Make a Joyful Noise brought me to tears... and what better way to end a blessed day with You shall go out with joy!

11 Nov - Christina's bro's wedding at QoP followed by Caroling prac at Holy Fam.... macham one day g2 camp... so so tired after that and we still went bowling.... 12 of us - Jude, Zach, Kenneth, Daf, Brenda, Sam, Marcus, Justin, Anthony, Nick, Darren S, myself..... at Katong Bowl... scored my lowest 2 scores of the year... 92 and 99 argh... but Daf stunned all with a 154 and 5 strikes!

13 Nov - cantored for mass, and the Ps just reverberated throughout the whole church.... will position the mike in the way Mel suggested... also had to lead the Universal prayers from the umbo

14 Nov - Camp Banyan publicity and registration! Helped out at the 1115am mass... and during our break taught Jason the tenor parts for pageant; Andrew also joined in. Very heavy rain hit as the 1115am mass ended and since everyone was stuck in church... we cld easily speak to the youths and invite them for the camp! hehe, one of the Kristokos choir ladies slipped and fell at the main staircase.... she had a deep gash on her forehead and there was blood all over the floor... Peter called me, and when I rushed there, Mark Koh and some 1st aiders were already on hand tending to her. I offered my towel which was used to tourniquet her. The SCDF ambulance arrived promptly and she was sent to the A&E for stitching and observation; and probably investigations to see if there are anymore soft tissue; or deeper trauma.

15 Nov - Camp Banyan Day of Recollection at Church as great! abt 26 of us facils and mentors really bonded and forged a common vision and hope for the youth of the church..... this was followed by the Feast of St Cecilia at Cathedral.... very very few choirs attended and so the cathedral was only 1/4 filled.... but Peter Low's Choir (Griffyndor) was magnificent... slytherin house was also present... lol... at the end of mass someone was playing the phantom of the opera on the huge pipe organ upstairs.. The few of us holy famers went to have dinner, and I proceeded to Risen Christ for adrian's wedding rehearsal.

It's been awhile...

2004-10-14T22:28:00.000+08:00

It's been awhile...

Paeds posting is flying by and will end with the prerequisite OSCE test...

I cannot wait for the chance to play some mean tennis again... ah the sweet smell of new balls, the pristine symmetrical white markings of the court, and the familiar odour of my racket grip.... and I'll be ready to crack some shots.

They (ordinary Singaporeans, our parents, our teachers, our govt leaders, our coaches!) say that Singapore's tennis players are doomed to obscurity; that we'll buckle under the pressures of regional (not even international) competition; that we do not have the mental prowess to win the psychological battle that begins in our own minds.... Personally, I find that crap and if I weren't so old myself, I would like to prove them wrong heh... Well, at least, thanks to our almost sunny weather throughout the year, we can get to play the game we love everyday on the courts; and in our dreams.... and if the adrenaline forbids us to sleep, there's good'ole cable TV televising live matches and even past ones.... Graf vs Navratilova.... my fav!

Happy Birthweek! Part 2

2004-09-30T23:15:00.000+08:00

Darren's Birthweek!!! Part 2

20 Sep
Hmmm, what happened this day.... oh I think it's Meiyi's birthday or is it Alina's? Meiyi is on 19 Sep and Alina on 20 Sep! My two RJC 2SO3C classmates, who are currently medical officers.
But I believed I slept through this day.... oh and in the afternoon I started calling up the new recruits to get their details eg home no., email, msn accounts, sch, eca, which day they would be coming... Oh and there was a pleasant surprise... Cuz I had invited the new recruits to come on 23 Oct... 3 girls - Denise, Stacy and Brenda asked if they could come the following Sat 25 Sep! How enthusiastic! Now Denise is a tennis player at TKGS, Stacy is an alto in her choir at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian, and Brenda in softball at TKGS... Brenda incidentally is Daryl Loh's sister... Daryl was a naval officer trainee who was killed in a naval training accident 3 years ago... and g2 also sang for his funeral....

21 Sep
Played tennis!!! the whole morning! Yizhi, Mong, Wolah, Bala, YY, Irene, Linxin and Hanying all played too at the NUS courts.... After lunch, thanks to peer pressure, we all went to the med library to study!!! urgh..... well I continued with my dialing up haha
I returned to the east in the evening to join Dawn, Benson, Yee-min, Nat and Angie to discuss the new young working adults group that we're spearheading for the church..... we had dessert at Haagen Daz ice-cream and I had a whooping Banana Split. That meeting was fruitful and we set 09 Oct Sat as our 1st session; and we'll be going around to invite our fellow young adults to come for this meal and session.

22 Sep
Cannot remember much of this day except for the parish team meeting at night haha.... this amazing parish team has been meeting every week since July... to plan for the parish assembly and for the PPC.... I believe it was in April or May that Fr Pat 1st informed us about the new parish assembly & PPC; the new way of things.... and how time flies when you're doing things and planning stuff..... the church's assembly will be on 26 Sep... and over the last few weeks we had been finalising things like the venue, logistics, nominees, grp reps, attendees, notes; and most notably we had been compiling reports and recommendations from our various ministries since June.... my that was mind-boggling... 12 parish team members, 40 grp reps, 9 nominees, 300 participants, 34 sharing groups haha i love keeping count...
Anywayz, the meeting went well and ended surprising early at 9.30pm... we went down to Fr's kitchen where I was given a surprise birthday celebration! Thank you Colin!!! We sat together, priests and laypple, eating the cake, mooncakes, all sorts of kueh, and we planned our "burn-out" party aka post PA celebrations...LOL... adults have just a great sense of humour as we young adults haha...

Happy Birthweek!

2004-09-23T02:02:00.000+08:00

19 Sep - 25 Sep = Darren's birthweek holiday!!! Haha, special thanks go to NUS Medical Faculty for giving us year 5s a one week break in honour of my birthday LOL

Let's talk abt an amazing week day by day!

19 Sep (Sun)
This was the single most hectic Sunday of my life.... Brownie selling for Camp and GII Recruitment! Fresh from the single most successful recruitment exercise on Sat's Con3 class where we got 10 out of 15 confirmands.... the GII pack converged in church at the wee hours of the morning to help sell brownies... Shannon, Samantha, Darren S, Edmond, Justin, Marcus, June, Nicole, Darryl, Jeremy Oh, Jeremy Chia, Jonathan Chia, Anthony Lee, Gerard, & Adrian Lim in all I think.... we didnt sell much after 7.15am mass cuz the brownies were still locked up!!! the person IC came late... but this amazing lady gave us $50 for one brownie and said to ask her for more money if we needed.

We all headed for an idyllic breakfast at Jago and came back for the 2 morning confirmation classes... this time round more of us shared about our experience in GII... and I was so proud of Jeremy Oh for his sharing.... so earnest and close to heart! Watching the power point photo montage of g2 activities and listening to the young ones describe them really touched me and affirmed the work God has entrusted to us as a choir - to nurture and develop the beautiful talents of youth, to provide an avenue for them to make mistakes, to try again and to shine.... We garnered another 8 confirmands (out of a possible 60-80) so though not as succesful as Sat's, a total of 18 (out of a 100plus) is not bad at all! Amen!

On the brownie selling front, we raised $2100 from the love offerings from our dear parishioners.. from 3 masses alone! Shireen also put up a beautiful poster of the "ingredients" to making a good brownie... which I will put up soon...

We ended the morning watching last year's choir anniversary video and footage of this year's June Camp skits... absolutely hilarious! Should have everyone watching the "Ah Niu MTV" with full attention... I had to leave them for pageant practice and hoped the day was as amazing for me as it was for them!

Christmas Pageant & RCIA

2004-09-12T22:23:00.000+08:00

We had our christmas pageant briefing today in the AVA room.

The committee of Marilyn, Michelle, Noel and myself first gathered at 12.30pm to prepare ourselves and the room for the rest of the pageant cast and crew to arrive.

The purpose of this first session was for us to get to know each other better. The schedule from now till christmas eve was also given out, much to the gasps and bewildered looks of everyone. We'll be meeting together every sunday for the next 18 weeks or so, to learn our songs, for drama workshops, for rehearsals, for spiritual input.

In all, those present (though not the full strength) were Marilyn, Noel, Michelle, Marissa, Sandrine, Michael, Gregory, Elizabeth aka Daughter, June aka Mother, Anthony aka Son, Dominic aka Father, and myself. We were laughing at Anthony and Dominic cuz the son is 6 years older than the father LOL... Think the others in the crew and chorus are Genevieve (brains behind the pageant!) Ferdinand, Joanna, Michaela, Desri, Daf, Marcus, Duane, Gerard and friend; and Raymond... Dawn will be involved in planning the workshops and input =) so although there are so many g2 peeps involved, there's also a good representation from the rest of the youth but could be better, probably next time.

After the short session, Anthony, Greg, Dominic and I went to Parkway for lunch. Pasta Mania! Ocean baked pasta! It was not bad, but we were on the outside balcony so there wasn't much air-con to enjoy.... Studied in church, collected my racket and proceeded to The Pines aka old pinetree club to play a 2 1/2 hr long game with Toon. I won 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.... the first set was the most tiring and the closest.... Toon just needs to be more consistent and finish off his points better...

After staying in town (BK) to study abit, went at 1130pm to Khian Hao's place to pass the laptops to him. Interestingly, he went for mass after all, with his friend, at Sacred Heart Church. We talked about RCIA and the churches near his house; he also mentioned that Chai Nam was going to SFX with his girlfren; I later heard from the Chai Nam that with his ex he used to go to a presbyterian church; but would be going to SFX soon. We agreed to go for mass together sometime at SFX, together with Khian Hao.... so ya, God works in beautiful ways... esp since I'm in this evangelisation phase... Brian, HA, Khian Hao, now Chai Nam; and gotta check on Bryan Wang haha....

a day spent in the Lord's service

2004-09-10T01:41:00.000+08:00

To-do list: as of 10 Sep 04 (Fri)

1. Youth Camp minutes - done!
2. Vet Colin's Parish Council minutes - done!
3. Vet Adrian's g2com minutes - where is it Adrian!?
4. Contact Con2 & Con3 catechists about recruitment - done!
5. Set-up g2basses and g2recruit yahoogroups - done!
6. Update g2 website with impt dates; and updates on youth camp, g2 anniv, camp fundraising, cookie baking, parish assembly, recruitment programme - not yet!
7. Speak to duane and jeremy chia - soon!
8. Ethics case write-up - where are my case notes!?
9. Liturgical planning for Oct, Nov & Dec - feastdays, advent and christmas! (with Jas, Jon & Noel)
10. Find out who's the celebrant for g2 anniv
11. Bug Ferdi for the videos of fun camp 04
12. Birthday cards/presents for Darryl, Isabelle, Khian Hao, Jeremy Oh, Dominic
13. Dominic's laptops to be passed to Khian Hao - done!
14. Remind Khian Hao and HA abt mass this weekend
15. Remind Brian See abt high mass
16. Send materials to Nicholas
17. Where is the Choral Praise book!? - Noel
18. Roster for Universal Prayer leaders - for Desri, Ally, Mel and me
19. Alastair to lead the Gloria - soon!
20. Speak to Cheryl abt Cherie and gang; and abt Christmas Pageant - done!
21. Discuss with Samantha, Marcus and Justin strategies to recruit their batch - done!
22. Parish Assembly - to encourage all Genesians to go; to encourage all I know to go - done!
23. Cookie baking and selling to raise funds for camp 2004 - roster g2 pple and camp com pple - doing!
24. Paediatrics Revision plan
25. Surgery Revision plan
26. Medicine Revision plan
27. October meeting with East District Liturgical Heads
28. Christmas Pageant meeting on 12 Sep in Church - done!
29. Anniversary photo/video montage - done!

2004-09-09T19:00:00.000+08:00

Jonathan's confirmation

2004-09-08T11:57:00.000+08:00

the holy family

On call at SGH

2004-09-03T21:33:00.000+08:00

I'm in ward 53A now waiting for the HO on call... and I'm wondering what I should hope for tonight... lotsa patients coming in with a variety of problems or a relatively dry call... which would be good for the poor tired HO, and which would mean an early trip home for me.

Back to some updates...
The Parish Pastoral Council discernment seminar went well, about 300 pple attended with a large contingent of 60 elders! GII was represented by a small group of 6. Elections went pretty smoothly save for a number of small groups who did not have enough members present to do a proper election... imagine 2 lectors present to elect 2 representatives! LOL.... June was elected by the GII grp, and she was relieved to hear that I would be in the PPC too.

Prior to the seminar, I was already in church at 5pm to recce the seating arrangements (last minuter!) and I quickly drew up a seating plan and blew it up to A2 size to be placed at the main church entrance. Frantic photocopying and serialising the voting slips continued thru evening mass, and after dragging a whiteboard down from the choir room and ushering people to their designated seats, the seminar began late at 7.40pm.

Throughout the sessions, I could sense that the 300 or so people were open and receptive to the inputs; and they wanted to contribute. It was a pity that certain groups which have lotsa members didnt turn up... St Anne's had 1 person, St David's had 2 persons, Lectors had 2, Wardens 6, EMs 5!!! Well during the nomination and election process, we invited them aside and gave them instructions on what to do with their grps and when to elect by.... cuz Parish Assembly is coming up! 26 Sep 04!

Back to the bookS

Holy Family Rocks!

2004-09-01T11:40:00.000+08:00

Something big is happening this evening, in church....

400 or so Holy Fam-ers, or roughly half of those actively involved in church groups, will converge for a parish pastoral council discernment seminar in the main church hall.

During this 2 hr session, they will firm up their understanding of the PPC; and at the end, each of the 40+ groups will elect one of their own to the PPC, to represent the interests and concerns of their groups, and more importantly, of the entire parish.

As asst secretary, I will be handling the seating arrangement, the voting and election slips, and other logistical requirements... hehe.. slack rite? Well, guess these pale in comparison to the talks and sharings undertaken by the Fathers, Colin, Jenann and James. But I find great joy no matter what, in serving in a simple way. Not to mention the weight of other things to balance eg hospital work, studying, g2, youth camp planning, christmas pageant..... so God's giving me what I can handle, and do well in... for now...

Will be praying for a good attendance this evening, hopefully 800 come!? And also for open minds and willing hearts to come forth to serve the parish community.

Maybe I'll take some photos too.

2004-08-12T02:37:00.000+08:00

After potluck bible quiz! Hungry for the Word!

2004-08-11T19:26:00.000+08:00

Hard at work preparing sausage cocktails for potluck quiz!

2004-08-11T19:24:00.000+08:00

GII Rocks!

National Day 2004 Part Deux

2004-08-11T12:37:00.000+08:00

We the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people...

1pm-5pm: ZZzzz
5pm-11pm: Parkway BK, Gen's place to watch Singapore Idol

Went to BK to study a bit before the rest came for dinner, Marilyn, Marissa and Matthias were already there. So I studied till 6.30pm when the rest of them turned up. Elden started asking for advice on slimming, while munching on the 2nd of his burger bonanza. LOL! Priscilla started speaking in Western-accented Mandarin, to the mirth of Dione the Higher Chinese Queen and the rest of us. And so we talked in Mandarin about how to lose Elden's weight all the way to Gen's place.

As you can see, I like to name all the people present at events so here goes the list of those at Gen's place:

Daphne, Darren, Dione, Elden, Gen herself, Jared, Joanna, Jonathan, Kelvin, Marilyn, Marissa, Matthias, Michaela, Noel, Priscilla, Samantha, Sandrine.

We reached Gen's place just in time to watch the fireworks from the NDP. And since Gen lives on the 23rd storey and her block has an almost perfect view of the national stadium... we saw all the fireworks, even their launching points! It was amazing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring.... the best I've seen ever. To our joy, the fireworks came on again after a few minutes. The 3 min tribute to PM Goh was touching... Thank you Heavenly Father for the gift of such a great leader.

As we approached the most anticipated moment of the nite - Singapore Idol, we got ourselves ready and comfortable, chips and drinks in hand. This 1st episode showed a dearth of good singers, and was basically a lambasting, laughter-driven episode. We all gasped when we saw Alastair, and how he was totally put down by all the judges for forgetting his lyrics. Besides him, Joy and Shaun had also taken part, both faltering in the 2nd round.

We have 2 Singaporean versions of William Hung so far!! LOL! And in the next episode, they'll reveal to us the Banana man! absolutely hilarious!!! Christopher Michael Lee, one of the main cantors for the Eucharistic Congress and Aileen's son, put on a fine performance and got through, so go Catholics! We rock!

We stayed on to watch another hilarious episode of Friends... the one where Joey "masters" French!

And so ended another wonderful day....

So as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation!

National Day 2004

2004-08-10T18:40:00.000+08:00

One People, One Nation, One Singapore

National Day 09 August 2004

9.30am-1pm: Milestone Anniversary Mass & Lunch
Woke up late! And came late for combined choir practice. But practice under the conductorship of Damian was fun... and when we all stood up to practice the National Anthem, the rest of the congregation who were there early stood up with us to sing too! How sporting! Only later did we inform that the we were merely practising.
41 couples were present with their families and friends to celebrate their anniversaries, the oldest being the Deskers who have been married for 60 years!!! Fr AJ was the main celebrant with the other 3 priests of Holy Family. The theme of the mass was "Love Shines Through" and his homily was interesting, and peppered with many "couple" jokes.

Eg a couple was asked on the secret to a successful relationship after so many years. "Its very simple," said the husband. "We go twice a week to a cozy restaurant, with good food, ambience, and soothing music to relax the senses... She goes on monday, I go on friday."

The mass and celebration of love continued flawlessly =) It's always great to be part of a combined choir (this time we were 50 strong)... ubi caritas, shine jesus shine, the testimonies, national anthem, and a bubbly upbeat conductor-cum-animator called Damian.

After mass, Shannon, Matthias, Joanna, Samantha, Duane and myself went upstairs for our free lunch! Noel and June left early.

My Spirit Soars on the Wings of My Lord

2004-08-07T23:45:00.000+08:00

My Spirit Soars on the Wings of My Lord

All that I am sings of the God who brings new life to birth in me
My spirit soars on the wings of my Lord

The previous entry was the responsorial psalm that I cantored for mass this weekend.

I thank God for guiding me through His psalm for His people. The congregation responded well with the response, and I couldn't help but smile back as I heard them. Some things to take note of in future:
- try not to eat spicy food on fri nite or on sat (haha - excluding Thai express omelette)
- not to put mouth directly into mike
and/or - work esp on words starting with 'p' - bring the sound back, not directly forward
- confidently proclaim the Word of God
- support!
My dad said I looked the most reverent going up the altar with my palms together, while my mum said that it looked Buddhist (!?)
The gospel acclamation was amazing... it was as if someone else had taken over and muttered to Himself : "I'll show them how to do it!" haha, thank you again dearest Father, and thank you to Genevieve for a wonderful psalm and to Jonathan for a wonderful alleluia.

The rest of mass was as beautiful as the previous weeks =), with Jonathan leading the Gloria and Cheryl doing the 1st verse solo for The Lord is My Light. First time hearing the Gloria without singing into the mike, and it was grand. Fr Pat's homily about being busy doing our work for Christ struck a chord with many of us, and also prepared many of us for the retreat the next day.

We're gonna sing David Haas' The Magnificat (which Shannon calls the magnificecat heh - its a magnificent song too!) and the Salve Regina, and Holy is His Name for Assumption of Mary next Sat... can't wait! Vocal chords all itchy already!

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as His own

2004-08-04T22:59:00.000+08:00

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as His own

Ring out your joy to the Lord O you just
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts
they are happy, whose God is the Lord
the people He has chosen as His own

The Lord looks on those who revere Him
on those who hope in His love
to rescue their souls from death
to keep them alive in famine

Our soul is waiting for the Lord
the Lord is our help and our shield
may Your love be upon us, O Lord
as we place all our hope in You

Blessed are you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children

Basic Information Before Leaving Earth

2004-08-01T03:07:00.000+08:00

Basic Information Before Leaving Earth

- Fr Erbin's final mass & potluck bible quiz - 31 July 04

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him
Who brings good news, good news!
Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness
Our God reigns! Our God reigns!

What an exciting day it was yesterday...

1)was supposed to go the Tan Tock Seng to join in some additional short case tutorial - Didn't go

2)was supposed to practice some tennis at 11am at Ocean Park - rained out

So I just slept in and woke up in time for lunch and some studying. At 3.45pm, Jon Lim and Jeremy Chia came 45 mins late to prepare our sausage cocktails for the potluck, and we ended off by testing our knee jerks with the tendon tappers haha.... Jon is super hyperreflexic! Haha...

We then took a cab down and reached the choir room at 4.40pm (Sorry Gen!). Poor Gen was soooo flustered... understandably so since all of us who were supposed to be there at 4.30pm for our pre-pre-mass-prac-reflection were late! Practice turned out to be super hectic, with Fr Erbin coming in to practice the Kyrie and the Gloria with us for mass later. Should have seen Fr Erb's face after he sang the gloria for the 1st time.... he totally ran out of breath, so we told him to sing it fast and brightly. And our beloved soprano section was reduced to 2 singers (which miraculously ballooned to 7 at the start of mass).

Mass!

We taught the congregation the kyrie and psalm before mass. Melvin gladly told the congregation to imagine him as the priest and respond to him for the kyrie (something which Fr Erb used during his homily to hint to Mel and other young men, that they might wanna consider the priesthood as their vocation hehe).

Fr Erb dedicated his homily and mass to Fr Pierre Barthoulot & for vocations. He shared about his close relationship with Fr Barthoulot as an altar server at IHM (thru' confession of course!), and how Fr Bartholout changed him and inspired him to become a priest. The incident of note was during one confession, after countless others; when a 14-yr old Fr Erb asked Fr Barthoulot why he continued to believe in him and forgive him. Fr Barthoulot said that he was there to give the mercy of God, and at that moment Fr Barthoulot became Christ for him, a sinner. Fr Erbs then exhorted us to always go back to God no matter how much we've sinned and how sinful we think we are. Our crosses may be hard to bear, but combined with Jesus and His greater cross, we can fight the good fight, and run the race. Fr Erbs also called on parents to facilitate the development of their children's spiritual life... that they shouldnt be the ones hindering potential vocations.

The rest of mass was beautiful and overwhelming. Behold the Lamb, Blest are they, Open my eyes, Our God reigns... a masterful selection by Gen =)

Potluck Quiz!

After mass, we prayed as a choir, led by Joanna.

We then promptly proceeded to 3 Sea Ave to spread out our buffet of buffets. And a what a beautiful and grand spread it was! We had an opening prayer, and when Fr Erbs came we said grace and began the feast! Fr Pat also made a nice pop-by to taste the food and meet us. Coincidentally, the youth council was also having a potluck meal at the RCIA room, their Bottom's Up! Follow Up! Go Holy Fam Youth!

At 8.15pm the LeaderSheep - Our Organisers - June, Andrea, Duane, Joanna, Jeremy Oh, Alvin Sr, began the bible quiz; we had already been divided into groups and created our own grp names -
#1 - Marilyn, Adrian Lim, Marcus, Samantha, Anthony Foo, Jasmine
Poh Choo Pills - Daphne, Gen, Jonathan Chia, Justin, Noel, Darryl
Dumpty - Sandrine, Brandon, Cheryl, Dione, Jonathan Lim
The Bold & the Beautiful - Melvin, Priscilla, Gerard, Jeremy Chia, Dominic Setiawan, Jared
5-Star Kitchen Lice - Marissa, Melina, Darren, Elden, Shannon, Alex, Alvin Jr

The 4 catergories were Old Testament, Gospels, Catholic Church Traditions & GII History. After the 1st 3 rounds of grp questions (plus many steals from other groups), we had the speed rounds.... fastest raiser first! We answered questions on the

1) OT abt Moses, Kings Saul, David & Solomon, Job, Joseph, Samson, Psalms

2) Gospels abt Zacchaeus, the sending of the 72, the Transfiguration

3) Church abt Divine Office, pre-mass fast, Franciscans, Dominicans & Carmelites, respect for the Tabernacle & the Altar

4) history of GII - founders, 18th anniv, website details haha and many many more!

Since this was an open book quiz, some teams prepared notes and brought old GII chronicles, to gain an edge.

We were laughing and enjoying ourselves so much, it felt so much at home. There were many quotable quotes and hilarious jokes. Some examples:

1) Mel's answers to "what have we learned?" = "we lose; the first shall be last, the last shall be first!"

2) Team #1 was led by Poh Choo, but Team Poh Choo Pills was not!?

3) Speed responses: Qtn: Who wrote the book of psalms?

- Gen:"King David"

- Marcus:"But it wasn't entirely written by King David"

- Elden:"Then who else? Must be David Haas!"

NB: Don't ask me why, but we just all laughed in unison after that.

4) Elden to Jeremy Oh:"You're the best, you da marshmallow man!"

Jeremy:"Yes!" (pause) "No!"

Team #1 won (how aptly named!), but since they answered the bonus question too, they were tasked to clean up the food with the losing team (the bOld & the Beautiful) LOL!!!

We ended off a wonderful night under the stars and under the fireworks of the NDP preview with Jeremy's exhortation & prayer:

"For us the bible is not very impoprtant in our lives, due to the fast pace and hectic lfestyle. BIBLE simply means "basic information before leaving earth". It is the guidebook to heaven. God gave us the freedom to choose, so he gave us the ten commandments so we can choose to live the way he wants us to. Thus this guidebook is giving us the freedom to choose our path, which is to choose whether we want to go to heaven. Sometimes the bible can be meaningful, and in this quiz u saw the cool side of the bible and also each one holds a very important lesson for each and everyone of us. We need the bible in our lives, to be better christians and to lead a life that GOD taught us to."

Amen Jeremy! Amen!

Neither Death nor Life

2004-07-31T12:31:00.000+08:00

Neither Death nor Life

Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
Nor trials in the
present, nor any trial to come;
Neither height nor depth, nor all of
creation
Can ever separate us from the love of God
Poured out in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.

One of my fav songs!!! A song to brighten your day anytime anywhere, when you need to hear of the magnitude of God's love.

Fr Erbin's celebrating mass today at holy fam - we've prepared a memorable mass for the congregation and him, not to mention a beautiful card by Gen. We'll be calling him Furbin in the card hehe.
After mass, we'll have our Potluck Bible Quiz under the Stars at 3 Sea Ave... How nice ya... and for this potluck dinner the basses are preparing shepherd's pie, fishballs, sausage cocktails and drinks.

Better get back to studying... won't have much chance to study tomolo thanks to the tennis competition.
Will report more on what transpires tonight.

Beneath the Tree of Life

2004-07-18T00:35:00.000+08:00

Come and gather....

Saturday 17 Jul
The life and times of being in GII... =)

Some of us went to watch King Arthur at Suntec (Gen, Gus, Noel, Daf, Pris, Joanna, Shannon, Edmond, Anthony & his friend). I was surprised to see the movie protray Merlin, and nearly every other character so differently from what I've always known them to be. And where's Morgana the witch, and the Lady of the Lake? Excalibur was hardly mentioned! Anywayz, after that we hopped on bus 36 back to the East.

Priscilla thought we were alighting at Parkway, and she confirmed this with a stranger behind her whom she thought was Joanna, so she went off 36, together with Shannon. Should have seen their faces when they realised their mistake and were gesticulating to us in the bus.... LOL!!!

Prior to choir prac, I went to receive the 3 con3s who were gonna be with the choir for 2 months - Justin, Marcus & Samantha. Amidst the initial uneasiness, I spoke to them for awhile and then brought them into the choir room...it was as if i was presenting to them some surprise gift. I was excited about showing them the choir that's been an integral part of the last 10 yrs of my life; yet I was fearful that they'd be bored to death or dread coming.

5pm and the choir room had only 8 pple!!! But as the LATECOMERS started streaming in during practice, a part of me was beaming with pride at the sight of so many Genesians filling out the chairs and taking up their breaking breads to sing.

Mass on Sat 17 July - 16th Ord Sun

We all come to prac and mass, wearied from our own troubles and woes, sometimes hyped up and raring to go. There are days when our singing dips and days when the spirit moves us in such a way that our ministering touches people to tears. We're not expected to always be hyped up and joyful for mass, but whats important is that we know why we are celebrating as a community. Why "All are welcome", regardless of age, social status, emotional state etc... If there was one thing I'd like to be able to do better, it is to share with them (young Genesians) about the mass and its relevance to their lives; and to lend a listening ear always.

After mass, I welcomed back Alvin & Dione (& Gus), and introduced the 3 con3s to the choir. Andrea announced the upcoming Potluck Quiz on 31 Jul, and the basses immediately got together to plan our winning strategy.

Wish we had more time to just sit down and talk, with the new con3s, and with others; rather than being too caught up in the "doing". 10 yrs ago, people were doing this for me....

Come and gather beneath the Tree of Life.

First posting again...

2004-07-17T13:25:00.000+08:00

Hello, there's actually another 1st posting i made on another blog of mine recently... but i can't seem to find it.

Was practising the cantor's part for the new gloria just now in front of my mirror.... and trying to put into practice what Marissa had advised last sat
- forward sound
- brighter
- more gusto
- hit each note precisely, and not to slur esp at "peace to His people on earth"
- crescendo at "earth" and hold for full value of the note
- don't slow down (esp since I'll be singing it acapella initially)

Looking at myself in the mirror, I must have been very uninspiring to the congregation last sat.... expressionless and not confident.... c'mon darren, its the gloria, the words mean so much
"Glory to God in the highest! Sing! Glory to God!"
"Glory to God in the highest! And peace to His people on earth!"

Sister Hazel (from the Cenacle sisters) told us once that the mass is like a rollercoaster, having highs and lows, and the gloria is one of the major highs, after confessing our sins and asking for mercy. After looking closer at the lyrics, the Gloria is one of the ultimate songs of praise and worship! Like the shepherds who first heard the angels proclaim to them, we are joined in communion with all the saints and angels in heaven, and people on earth, as we Sing! Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

I pray for humility and joy when we sing the gloria tomorrow, when we sing together tomorrow, as a people of God.

Doctor Priests... Fr (Dr) Leon Pereira

2004-07-16T23:37:00.000+08:00

What's that? To date I've met only 2 priests who were doctors before they chose to serve God as a pastor. A priest of Opus Dei from Hong Kong (whose name I cannot remember) and the second I met this Thursday evening at a mass and gathering of doctors and friends, which was celebrated at Justina's beautiful home.

Fr Leon Pereira, Dominican or the Order of Preachers.

Fr Leon left S'pore 15 years ago to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor at the Uni of Leeds. He graduated and started working as a house officer. During his years spent in England, he had come into contact with the Dominicans (no, not the Republic of Dominica) at their various retreat houses, and considered himself akin to the spirituality of this particular Catholic order. Soon into his house officer years, he felt the call to become a religious, and after discernment and nudging from his Dominican friends, he said goodbye to his medical life and took the next step toward becoming another kind of healer.

The Order of Preachers, started by St. Dominic, is as its name implies, an order of articulate and intellectual religious. At a time when the Church was facing one of her greatest heresies; and only Bishop of the diocese was the pre-eminent preacher & homilist, St. Dominic felt the need for all priests to be effective and articulate preachers, so that they could address the questions of their people and provide ample rebuttal to the heretics (sounds familiar? heh).

As Fr Leon and his deacon friend shared their lives and thoughts on spirituality, one would not have thought that this same person used to throng the halls of RJC, or attend to patients at the ED. They describe their spirituality as simplicity, just as God is, ironically, so simple that we cannot understand Him.

We had a sumptous spread for dinner and bantered the night away... abt ward work, ward gossip, church, family and corny jokes. There were only 3 med students, Angela, Ian and myself; the doctors present included Chris Lien, Martin Chiu, Edward, Victor, Alfred, Cat, Adrian, Tim, Madeline, & Justina, our host.